Directions
by HPtwilightfanatic
Summary: Even Half-Bloods have troubles with directions. Half-Blood boys don't want to ask for them, and Half-Blood girls just don't understand why it is so hard for them. Just Percy and Annabeth getting used to dating. They didn't really count on all the fighting that would happen... Percabeth oneshot


A/N: This is just a fun oneshot that I thought up. I haven't written Percabeth in a long time, so it felt good to just play around with this one!

"Not only is it a stupid idea to actually have your cell phone on, but do you seriously think that the GPS application on it works correctly?" Percy just rolled his eyes at his girlfriend's comment as he looked down at his phone again, turning right, just as the little arrow told him to.

Annabeth just scowled and shook her head. "Don't make that face." Percy sounded insulted, yet said it calmly as he glanced at her while keeping his eye on the road and his cell phone at the same time.

She just let her eyes roll again. _"Go to Boston."_ Chiron had said. _"Find the half-bloods that were sensed there. Bring them back."_ He'd said. Now Annabeth would be more than glad to do just that; if they ever got to Boston.

"You're going to lose battery." She said matter-of-factly, looking straight ahead. Percy sighed, beginning to feel frustrated, and raked a hand through his hair. "Both hands on the wheel!" Annabeth screeched.

The two glared at each other for a moment, then both glared at Percy's phone that was impersonating a GPS.

"It was fully charged before. And it shouldn't take that long to get to Boston." Percy grumbled. He hated how Annabeth could make him feel bad, even when he'd done nothing wrong.

_We should've already _been_ in Boston by now. _Annabeth tried to calm herself down, not really wanting to be angry with her boyfriend, especially when cooped up in this old dingy car that Camp had pulled out of nowhere. She didn't really know why she and Percy were the ones to go on this mini-quest, but there were no arguments. Well, not back at Camp. In the car had been a different deal.

First Percy had gotten hungry almost right when they'd turned onto the road. Annabeth had wanted to just get this over with so they would be back before night fall, and refused to let him stop. So his stomach started grumbling, as did he, and it just went downhill from there.

When Percy made yet another right turn, Annabeth couldn't keep her mouth shut any longer. "Percy…maybe I should drive. I've driven to Boston before, and it wouldn't take as long." It was supposed to come out soft, just an offer that he would maybe fall for. But it came out more like a demand. She watched as his face turned rather red, whether it was for anger or embarrassment, she wasn't sure.

"I can drive." He said through clenched teeth.

"I know very well that you can drive. And you're good at it. I'm just saying I know how to _get_ to Boston and-"

"You just don't like the GPS. I can drive, and I know how to get to Boston just as well as you!"

_Ugh! Boys and their gadgets!_ "Alright! You caught me! The phone GPS is stupid! Now let me drive!" She wasn't really sure why she was pushing this so hard, but she wasn't about to let it drop.

"I should've brought Grover." She overheard him mumble.

"Yeah? Well _I_ should've brought Clarisse!" She knew that she was just trying to rile him up. It worked too. His knuckles turned white as he gripped the steering wheel tightly, and he glared at the road ahead of them that was definitely not leading to Boston.

"Fine. You won't let me drive, then can we at least stop and ask for directions?" She tried to make her voice a little lighter, but again, there was still a hint of malice underneath it. She hated how easy they could get in little clashes like this.

She practically felt Percy tense next to her. "The GPS is fine, no matter how much you don't trust it." He sounded like he might choke.

Annabeth felt like she might actually explode. "Seriously, Percy. Just admit that you have no idea where we are! And neither does that stupid phone!" As if to prove her point, the phone announced that it was "recalculating" their position.

Percy's fingers were really started to ache with how tight they were holding on the steering wheel. He refused to ask directions. That was just too embarrassing. He could picture them asking some tourist, who would begin to laugh so hard he would start choking on his hotdog. He didn't much care if they ended up in Vermont and had to turn all the way back, just as long as he wouldn't have to stop and ask.

Annabeth's reprimanding voice and exasperated groans filled the car as well as his ears. When she found that Percy wasn't listening to a word she said, silence took over her voice and stayed for a long time.

Percy turned onto a city street that was surrounded by small buildings and a river on their other side. The radio droned on between them. The tension could practically be cut with a knife in the small car. There was another turn, and the road was deserted suddenly. At the very end of the street, the flat land ended with a small café on the corner. Annabeth was not about to wander around another neighborhood for an hour.

"You said you wanted to stop and eat, so let's turn in here." Percy just glared ahead. "Maybe _they'll_ know how to get to Boston." Still nothing. Without even truly thinking, her hand shot out and gripped the wheel, turning it towards the coffee shop. Percy panicked, and tried to pull it back straight, and the two began wrestling for control of the car. They swerved a bit, then went over the curb of the shop's parking lot, and covered three parking spots until Percy decided to just slam on the brakes.

Annabeth groaned and mumbled something incoherent as she jumbled out of the car, stomping angrily into the shop. Percy growled through his teeth and punched the steering wheel, making the horn sound loudly, earning himself a dirty look from Annabeth as she stepped into the shop.

It amazed him how quickly they could go from laughing and joking, sneaking kisses at Camp, to screaming at each other, irate beyond belief. After scowling at the gravel so hard that his forehead hurt, he finally left the car and made his way to the shop, shoving his hands roughly into his pockets.

Annabeth refused to look at him, favoring the café's menu instead. The guy behind the counter looked a little frustrated that neither of them was ordering anything. Without speaking a word, Annabeth stomped over to a table once Percy had come up beside her. He sent a look of pleading to the man, but no sympathy was given.

Right now, two different voices were arguing inside his head. One was shouting _Screw her! If she wants to be Miss Angry Wise Girl Pants, then be my guest!_ While another, saner one softly added that _She's right. You didn't know where you were going. You were just too proud to admit it._

Another thing Percy hated was dilemmas, and he sure seemed to be in them ore often that not. He braved one glance over at the table that Annabeth was now frowning at, probably imagining that she could hack at it with an axe.

With a deep breath, he stepped up to the counter. "Can I get you anything?" the only thing the guy's sentence was missing was a gruff "Finally".

Percy glanced at the menu again. "I'll just take two hot chocolates." He mumbled, reaching in his back pocket for his wallet. Caffeine was the last thing that Annabeth needed. He wasn't about to give her more energy to shout at him.

The man behind the counter was very burly, Percy noticed as he turned to fix the drinks. Taking another deep breath, gathering up his pride, he leaned against the counter and asked the man, "So do you know the way to Boston from here?"

Annabeth sent daggers to Percy's figure as he spoke to the man over his shoulder. He must've felt them, since he was avoiding her gaze as much as he possibly could, though his eyes would flicker to her table and away again.

She finally gave up and surveyed the small shop. It was nicely set up, too bad not many customers seemed to like it. There was a taxidermy bear standing in the front, holding a sign that would greet anyone coming in. Artwork plastered the walls, depicting bears on waterfalls, bears in the woods, and bears hunting. Her brows furrowed at this as her eyes scoured over the rest of the pictures. One behind the counter was of a bloody body, with a bear sitting next to it, looking very content in licking honey out of a bee hive. _Maybe that's why he gets no customers._ Annabeth shuddered at the painting, and her attention went back to Percy, chatting idly with the man. The man turned around, and set the drinks down, not even notifying Percy that they were ready. When he opened his mouth to answer Percy, his lips revealed sharp, pointed teeth. He had a heavy beard that surrounded that fearsome looking mouth. Really, it surrounded most of his face.

Annabeth carefully slipped out of her chair, trying not to cause Percy any alarm. Her boyfriend didn't notice a thing. As she moved closer, she heard their conversation.

"Yessir, you just turn out of here and keep going straight on." The words came through the sharp teeth. The man's eyes fixed on the back of Percy's head. They held a hungry gleam in them.

"Thank you, I don't know why the GPS didn't work." Percy looked thoughtful as he frowned slightly. His eyes fell on Annabeth's shoes, and they traveled up until they met her face. He looked a bit embarrassed at her finding him speaking about directions, and his cheeks flushed lightly. "I got hot chocolate for us." He whispered to her. She felt a little pit in her stomach rustle with how self conscious he sounded talking to her. But the man's eyes brought her back to the situation. She needed to get Percy away from the counter without letting him look behind him.

"Thanks," she whispered, sending him a smile. "Why don't you come and sit down?" She asked, indicating to her table. Maybe they could just get out of here without anything happening, or the "man" making a move. That chance was lost when Percy rounded to grab the hot chocolates and saw the man behind the counter practically drooling. Percy jumped at the face and hopped back before the man's claws could grab a hold of him. _Claws?_

The monster grabbed the hot chocolates and flung them in their direction. Percy was the closest, and got full blast of the hot liquid. He shuddered and his fists went to his eyes immediately. The bear jumped over the counter and lunged, but Annabeth stepped quickly in front of the now stumbling Percy, her knife at the ready.

Her biology class had taught her never to break eye contact with a bear if ever met with one. She wasn't sure if that was associated with monsters, but it was worth a shot. His hair kept growing and growing, until it was spurting out of his shirt, and covering his whole torso. His eyes grew larger, as did his teeth. His height increased, making his head just brush the ceiling.

Percy must have recovered, for she heard the _shing_ of Riptide being released, and she felt him come up next to her. "What is it?" Percy murmured in her ear, as the bear eyed their blades carefully.

"Agrius." Annabeth answered quietly, still not looking away from the monster. "Half man, half bear." This is one of the monsters on her list that she would really have cared _not_ to meet up with.

"Let me guess, we're a snack in his eyes?" Percy guessed, sarcasm hiding underneath the sentence.

"You got it." Annabeth answered. It was made obvious by the drool now rippling down his chin.

Annabeth started them moving back towards the door, Agrius prowling after them. The fight would be much easier outside, but when he lunged again, between their blades, they had to scatter back into the shop. He pounced at Percy, bowling him right over. He must look tastier than her. Percy got in a slice at Agrius' arm, making the bear stagger backwards. Annabeth came up behind him, and got another good stab in. He went back and forth between them, but they could only reach his arms and legs. He kept a good guard up around his chest with those long claws.

In all honesty, they were just making Agrius angrier and angrier. His eyes almost looked red. The bear finally got his footing and he jumped out of their reach, growling at them. His wounds on his arms were bad enough that he couldn't control them right. "Come now, come over here and be a good snack." His gruff voice came out. The drool around his mouth was slowly turning to foam.

He lunged again, and Riptide sprawled across the floor. There wasn't enough time for the pen to return to his pocket. Annabeth leapt in front again, blocking him.

Percy's eyes scanned the room quickly, the adrenaline pumping through his veins. What could he use? There was a broken leg of a chair nearby, but he wasn't sure that would do much damage. The adrenaline must have gone to his ears, or maybe it was just another strange power he had, but the sound of a slow, steady drip of water suddenly came to his attention. His gaze fixed on the sink behind the counter, and another drop came. The smile had no chance to come across his lips, as Annabeth let out a scream. The claws had gotten caught on her sleeve, and ripped through some skin by her neck. Seeing the blood made the adrenaline level higher if that was possible.

Percy held out a hand towards the sink, concentrating hard, sensing the line of pipes beneath the whole shop. He saw the bear lunge at him in his peripheral vision, but before the large mouth could close around his arm, he jolted and the sink erupted in a fountain of heavy, cold water, splashing the entire shop with a pool. The bear had a shocked, look on his face as water soaked him, and before Percy could even make a move, the shocked eyes grew even larger, and he toppled over. Annabeth stood behind him, her knife bloodied, and sweat beading on her forehead.

The two half-bloods stared at each other warily, not even flinching as Agrius burst into dust between them.

Percy put the cap on Riptide and stuck it in his pocket."See what happens when I ask for directions? We get attacked by rabid man bears!" Annabeth sheathed her knife, and couldn't stop a smile from forming on her features.

Percy slowly stepped over to her, and his hand reached out to her collar bone, pressing on the cuts left by Agrius' claws. Annabeth winced a little, but the cuts were not deep. She let her eyes move up to Percy's face, which had eventually turned red from the hot chocolate burning his skin. Her hands came up as well, lightly touching his cheek. Percy hissed through his teeth, and his eyes clenched tightly closed.

"We need to take care of that." She whispered, reaching down at the abandoned apron covered in dust.

"It's not that bad." Percy protested, but he was completely ignored. Annabeth ripped some cloth off of the apron and took it over to the puddle on the counter that was left of the sink. Dipping it in the water, she lightly held it up to his cheek. It stung horribly, and Percy would have jumped away, but Annabeth's other hand held his hand so lightly. He felt her lips brush his softly, but when he opened his eyes, she was backed away from his face again.

"Just keep that up against your face ok?" She turned towards the doorway, stepping carefully through the gold dust. "I'll drive."

Percy scowled at her. "But I just found out how to get to Boston from him!" He indicated the pile of powder.

Annabeth let out a laugh and led the way out to the car. She strutted right over to the driver's side and held out her hand for the keys. Percy shook his head, but still handed them over to her.

Back on the road, Percy took over the role of the GPS while Annabeth took on driving. They saw a sign ahead that read "Boston: 3 ¾ Miles". Percy laughed. "Who knew? The monster was actually telling the truth!"

"He probably didn't think we would get out of there alive. Why lie then?" They laughed a moment.

When Boston came into sight, Percy suddenly turned to her. "Pull over." Annabeth frowned in confusion, but did as he said. When she put the car into park, Percy pulled her towards him, and kissed her lightly, letting his cloth fall into his lap. "I'm sorry." He whispered, as his lips brushed over her cheek.

Her felt her smile as their lips met again. "No, I'm sorry. We were both overreacting." He pulled her closer, so she was going as far as the seat belt would let her.

"Do we really have to go get those kids now?" He asked, letting his hands rub over her back.

"We've already wasted enough time being lost and fighting a bear." As much as her words sounded strict, she let herself get pulled closer and kissed again, and again, and again.

Maybe they could get sidetracked again for a little while.


End file.
